Trump orders inquiry into food sector over alleged price-fixing concerns

President Donald Trump ordered the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the US food supply chain for potential price fixing and other anti-competitive behavior to drive up costs of goods such as meat, seeds and fertilizer, especially by foreign companies.  

Trump, in an executive order published Saturday, said he ordered the department and the FTC to establish a task force dedicated to investigating any anti-competitive behavior and whether control of food-related industries by foreign entities pose a national security threat.  

The order comes as the US president responds to Americans’ growing dissatisfaction on rising cost of living, which propelled Democrats to wins over the Republican Party in several key elections in November.  

Trump last month ordered an investigation into the meatpacking industry, blaming “majority foreign owned” companies for rising beef prices.